Abstract:

Total health consists of a variety of components, notably the physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual dimensions. The spiritual dimension is seen by some researchers as the unifying dimension or the avenue through which the other dimensions interact with one another. A high level of spiritual wellness (SW) is thus considered by some to be the basis for participation in physical activity, a healthy lifestyle and good health. The aim of this study was to determine if a high level of SW would show any relationship with participation in physical activity. The subjects of this study were 525 caucasion male inhabitants of Potchefstroom, a city in the North-West Province in South Africa. Subjects between the ages 30-60 were selected at random according to their street addresses. SW was measured with the spiritual well-being scale of Ellison and physical activity with the physical activity index (PAT) of Sharkey. The relationship of these instruments with each other was evaluated by means of a one-way analysis of variance, the omega square and the effect size calculation of Cohen. Participation in physical activity as well as quality of participation in physical activity showed statistical significant (p less than 0.05) relations with religious, existential and spiritual well-being. Level of religious, existential and spiritual well-being also showed statistical significant (p less than 0.05) relations with both a tendency to exercise and the quality of the respondents participation in physical activity. The relationship of the two measuring instruments (SW and PM) with each other were however not practically significant (ES less than 0.8). According to the omega square calculation, PAI contributed 1.8 percent, 4.4 percent and 3.5 percent to the respective variances of religious, existential and spiritual wellness. Regarding the contribution of religious, existential and spiritual wellness to the variance of physical activity, values of respectively 0.8 percent, 3.3 percent and 3.2 percent were found. PAT and SW thus showed equal but not practically significant (ES less than 0.8) contributions to each others variances. This indicates that participation in physical activity does not have a practical significant effect on level of spiritual wellness. It is also clear from this results that spiritual wellness is not a practical significant contributor to a tendency to participate in physical activity. The results of this study does however show statistical significant relationships between physical activity and level of spiritual wellness, and therefore suggest some form of relation.